People Do Change
by Dreams-of-Oompa-Loompas
Summary: A continuation of the beloved story, People Change, by ApollaJ. I only own what I say is mine! Lit, JJ. Takes place one month after 3.10. And who is that old lady named Maggie?


Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I don't own the original story, _People Change_, either, that was written by Apolla-J.

A/N: Ok, so one of my favorite stories, People Change, written by Apolla-J, was never finished. This makes me sad! I loved this story! And I know others did too, so as a favor to the whole FF community (unless my story sucks), and to myself a little, I decided to continue it. Now, if with some strange miracle, Apolla-J comes back and finishes her story (which hasn't been updated in a year!), then this is just whatever. Yep. So, before reading this, check out the first part, which I DID NOT WRITE! Everything after this is my own writing, but the first chapter is mostly based on the last Author's note of what the chapter would be. I do not own Maggie or any other original characters that Apolla-J put in.

* * *

**People Do Change**

_Previously on People Change (NOT MINE!):_

Rory was heading towards the diner when Dean came up to her in the street. Rory sighed. "Look, Dean – "

"Rory, I know I've been stupid, okay? I just want to talk to you this one time."

"Fine," Rory relented.

"Come on, let's talk in here."

Dean led her to the gazebo, and they sat down. "Are you really happy with him?"

"Well……yes. Look, Dean, I don't want to hurt you, but I can't lie to you. I'm with Jess, and I'm staying with Jess. We are never going to get back together, and right now I don't even know if we can be friends."

Dean sighed. "I guess I just needed to hear you say it."

They were both silent for a moment. "But Rory? One more thing," Dean said all of the sudden, leaning towards her.

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Jess happened to be walking towards the gazebo when he saw Rory and Dean sitting in there. He stopped walking and scowled.

Then, unable to believe his eyes, Dean and Rory kissed.

Jess froze, then turned around, and walked away.

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When Dean leaned forward and kissed her, it took Rory completely by surprise. She froze, then realized what was happening and pulled away. "Dean!" she said, standing up.

"Nothing?" Dean asked.

"I told you I'm with Jess now!" Rory said angrily.

"I know," Dean said, putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I just – I just needed to know for sure that we were over."

"Well, gee, did you get the message now? Don't talk to me, and don't tell anyone about this."

With that, Rory left.

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Rory went straight to the diner. "Luke, is Jess upstairs?" she asked immediately upon entering.

"Yeah."

Rory paused. "Um, how is he?"

"He's upset. I hope you can make it better."

"Yeah, me too."

Luke gave her a small smile, and Rory went upstairs. She knocked lightly on the door, then entered the room to find Jess lying on his bed. "Go away, Luke," he said.

"Jess, it's me," Rory said softly.

Jess sat straight up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Luke told me you were up here, and – "

"Oh, of course he did," Jess said angrily.

Jess still hadn't made eye contact with Rory. "Jess, I need to talk to you. I'm guessing that you saw – "

"Don't say it," Jess said, cutting in.

Rory walked closer to him. "I didn't know he was going to do that, Jess. I'm sorry," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Jess jerked away from her and stood up facing her. He finally looked at her, and Rory was sad to see his eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles underneath them. "Don't touch me," he snapped.

"Jess, don't be like this," she said. "I love – "

"Shut up!" he yelled. "Shut up! No, you don't. Don't ever say that to me again. Don't ever talk to me again. I never want to see you again. Never."

"Jess, you don't mean that," Rory said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Yes, I do," he said coldly.

"That's not fair!" she burst out. "This isn't my fault! I didn't do anything!"

"You're right," Jess agreed. "You didn't do anything. He kissed you, and you sat there and didn't push him away."

"Jess – "

"But I don't know why I'm surprised," Jess continued, his voice mocking. "How does that saying go? 'Once a cheater, always a cheater'? And didn't you kiss me when you were still with him? I should have expected something like this."

Rory froze. "That is a low blow," she said furiously. "You know that I – "

"I don't know anything about you," he said. "And I don't care about you, either. Lane was right, Rory. I just said that stuff to try and get in your pants. Now get out."

Rory just stood there staring at him, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Jess – "

"GET OUT!" he yelled.

He went over and opened the door, staring at the floor until she left. When she did, he slammed it behind her.

Jess sat down on his bed, head in his hands, and felt tears come to his eyes. He refused to let them fall. Once he regained control of himself, he started packing his stuff. Luke came up and looked at him. "What happened?" he asked.

Jess didn't say anything and continued packing his stuff, then zipped up his bag. "What are you doing?"

Jess headed towards the door, then stopped right in front of Luke. "You told her I was up here," Jess said. "You just let her come up. Would it have killed you to be on my side just this once?"

With that, Jess went down the stairs. Luke followed. "Jess, where are you going?" he called.

"Anywhere but here," he yelled over his shoulder.

He got into his car and drove away.

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Jess had stormed out of Luke's, he had drove away and ended up in Hartford. Without really thinking about where he was going, he ended up at Maggie's house. He parked, then looked up at her house. Well, why not? He had nowhere else to go.

He got out and knocked on the door, bag in hand. A maid answered. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to Maggie."

The maid looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Her grandson," Jess snapped.

Just then Maggie came up to the door. "Jess! What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course. Rosa, can you leave us, please?"

Rosa left, and Jess followed Maggie into the living room. "Sit. What's the matter? Does Luke know you're here? He called me a few days looking for you, you know."

"Yeah, I've seen him since then."

Maggie looked at Jess. He didn't look like he'd be doing well. "What's this about, Jess?" she asked softly.

"I need a place to stay."

"You can stay here, of course. But you need to tell Luke where you are."

"I'm not talking to him," Jess said bitterly.

"Why not?"

"Because he never takes my side. Ever. He'll always choose Rory and Lorelai over me, and I can't deal with it right now."

"Jess, what happened?" Maggie asked again.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Maggie looked at him consideringly, then agreed. "Okay. You don't have to tell me. But I'm calling Luke and telling him that you're here."

"Whatever."

Maggie tossed him his bag. "Go upstairs and pick out a room."

After Jess left, Maggie picked up the phone and called Luke. He answered on the first ring. "Jess?"

"No, Luke, it's Maggie."

"Maggie. Have you seen Jess?"

"He just showed up on my doorstep."

"Oh, thank God."

"Luke, what's going on?"

"He and Rory aren't doing very well, and I let Rory come in, and apparently I shouldn't have done that."

"Oh. I see."

Maggie paused. "Luke, I told him he could stay here, but that I was calling you to tell you where he was."

There was silence on the line for a minute. "Luke?"

"What? Oh. Yeah. That's fine."

"All right. You can call anytime you want."

"Yeah. Thanks, Maggie."

"Goodbye, Luke."

Maggie hung up the phone. Trouble with Rory? That explained a lot. Her grandson didn't look good at all.

Still, a part of Maggie was pleased that he had come to her.

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That night, after the diner was closed, Lorelai knocked on the door. Luke was cleaning up, but he went and opened it for her. "Hey," she said.

"Hey."

She looked around. "Is Jess upstairs?"

"Why, did you come to talk to him too?"

"No, I was just wondering."

Luke sighed. "No, he's not. He left after he and Rory argued."

"He left? Where?"

"He's at Maggie's."

Lorelai was behind the counter pouring herself coffee as Luke talked. "Oh."

"Yeah. She called and let me know."

"I'm sorry, Luke," Lorelai said.

"It's not your fault."

"Well, it is my daughter he's upset with."

"That's not why he left," Luke said.

Lorelai sat down, putting her coffee down. "It's not?"

Luke started wiping down the counter. "No. Rory came in, and I told her he was upstairs. After she left, I went up there and he said I never take his side. And then he left."

"Oh, Luke," Lorelai said, coming up to him.

She gave him a hug, then pulled back slightly to look at him. "That's not true. Trust me, I know. You do take Jess' side."

"Thanks, I think."

"Sure," Lorelai murmured.

Their faces were inches apart, and they were staring into each other's eyes. Suddenly, without thinking, Lorelai leaned forward and kissed Luke.

Just as suddenly, she pulled away from Luke, who had been so surprised he hadn't moved at all. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'll just be going. I – okay. I will go now," Lorelai said, rambling as she started walking towards the door.

_You kissed Luke! You kissed Luke! You kissed Luke!_ her mind screamed at her.

"Lorelai, wait," Luke said before she opened the door.

She stopped, and he went up to her. "Don't go."

He pulled her close to him and kissed her, and Lorelai wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

* * *

_And now (mine):_

Entering the diner quietly, Rory headed to the counter and sat on a stool. Luke came out of the kitchen and stopped, then moved toward her.

"Hey." He softly said, pouring her a cup of coffee. She didn't touch it, but bit her lip, frowning.

"Luke..." she drew in a breath, "Is he ok?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"Where is he?" She softly asked.

"Rory," Luke sighed.

"Please Luke, I need to talk to him."

"He's not really..." He put a hand to his head and brushed back his hair. The diner was relatively empty, the only people there some tourists and meandering townfolk. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Rory caught his eye and Luke realized she was on the verge of crying. Jess had been gone for two days now. "Luke," she started.

"I don't..." he paused and took a deep breath. "He's at Maggie's."

Her expression was solid, but she nodded. "Thank you." She said, looking down at her coffee and taking a sip. She said nothing else and Luke sighed, walking away.

* * *

The door closed and Lorelai glanced up. "Rory?" 

"Hi." Her blank voice called back. The younger Gilmore entered the kitchen, Lorelai smiling weakly at her.

"How are you?" She asked encouragingly.

"Fine." Rory replied, nodding. "I've got some homework to do," she forced a small smile at her mom.

"Sweets-" Lorelai made a motion to speak, but hesitated. "Ok. Do you want to go to Luke's or pizza?"

Rory shrugged. "Um, mom..." She shook her head. "Never mind."

* * *

The following afternoon, she stood at the door of a large house. Rory shifted from foot to foot when the door opened. She glanced up, and jumped in surprise as Maggie stood there. 

"Hello." Rory awkwardly said.

"Well." Maggie greeted. "If it isn't the girl who broke my grandson's heart," she said, her tone empty.

"Maggie-" Rory started, feeling extremely uncomfortable. The old lady put up a hand.

"I know. It's ok." She said, nodding. "Now, would you like to tell me what happened?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It's long and complicated." Rory said, than stopped at the look on Maggie's face. "Just...my ex-boyfriend, Dean, was talking to me, and then he kissed me and Jess saw, and he misunderstood, and got upset," Rory rambled, feeling her emotions well up again.

"Calm down Rory." Maggie soothed. "I suppose you want to talk to him?"

She nodded. Maggie looked to the stairs. "First door on the left," she nodded.

* * *

Music seeped out of the room. Rory stopped, pausing before knocking, and listened to the music for a moment. The Clash, of course. 

_"I don't know anything about you," he said. "And I don't care about you, either. Lane was right, Rory. I just said that stuff to try and get in your pants. Now get out."_

She swallowed hard. _"I don't know what I can do. He said he never wants to see me again, but Lane………I still love him. I can't just give up."_

Rapping her hand against the door, the music turned down a little. The door flew open and complete shock registered on Jess's face. The mask immediately fell over though, his stony face of anger.

"What are you doing here?" He said, his voice hard but not so tempered.

"I came to talk to you."

"Obviously," he sarcastically said, walking into the room. Rory followed, and he sat on his bed, pulling out a book and not saying anything.

"Jess-"

"You want to talk, talk." He said, turning away from her. Rory crossed her arms, tears threatening to fall again at his coldness.

"Fine. You definitely overreacted. You wouldn't even hear me out! He kissed me, ok Jess, I pushed him away! I told you I didn't have any more feelings for him, and I meant it! I love you Jess! I told you that, but you don't believe me. I've never felt the way I do around anyone before. It's not fair for you to treat me like this, to just shut me out! For some reason, you just can't seem to grasp that I _do _love you, I care about you so much, and I thought you would understand what happened, but you wouldn't listen to me!" She cried out, but Jess still faced the opposite way, seemingly deaf to her words. "If you don't want this to work out, fine. But I want you to know," her voice broke, "that I will always love you, whether you care about me or not. Whether or not you really did just want to sleep with me or whatever. You know me, and you know what really happened Jess." She let out a shuddering sigh and turned away, marching out of the room. She paused at the doorway, looking back at him. He was still staring down at the pages of his book, and he scribbled something in the margins.

"Bye," she softly said, leaving the room and whipping out of the house.

Jess glanced up. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

* * *

As he went down the stairs, he found himself in front of Maggie. 

"Would you like dinner now?" She asked politely.

He shrugged. "Sure."

Maggie paused. "Did you talk to her?"

He set his jaw. "She talked plenty."

They headed into the dining room silently, and ate quietly. 20 minutes into dinner, Maggie looked up at Jess.

"You should talk to her."

* * *

The door jingled as the only customer left. Lorelai passed him as she entered the diner. 

"Hello." She smiled at Luke. He smiled faintly back.

"Hey. Where's Rory?"

Lorelai sighed. "Home. She went to see Jess today."

Luke frowned. "Oh. Jeez."

"She's...okay, but...I don't know."

"How about you?"

"Me?" She tilted her head. "I've got a lovely date for this Saturday."

"Oh really?" Luke smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah. By the way, where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see." He grinned.

"Nooooo!" She whined. "I hate surprises!"

"You love surprises," he looked at her pointedly.

"Not when I don't know what to wear." She said. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Crazy lady." He said as he leaned toward her.

"I know," she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. The kiss deepened, their only obstacle the pesky counter. Lorelai wrapped her arms around him, as he burrowed his hands into her curls. They pulled away at a lack of air.

"I can't tell Rory about us yet," Lorelai whispered, staring into his blue eyes.

"I know-" he started.

"There's just too much going on with her right now," she continued.

"Lorelai..." Luke said.

"What?"

"I know." He smiled faintly and kissed her.

* * *

A/N: Ok, it was a little short. Not the whole thing, but my part. Just thought I should fill you in if you don't remember Apolla-J's story. I hope you liked it, and I hope it matches up to the original story. There's a little to much drama there, but that's how the last chapters of the story were in it. So, anyways, review, tell me what you think.


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